BMW GS - The legend continues

Trevor Hedge reviews BMW's GS legend detailing where it has been and where it's going.

BMW GS - The legend continues

Who would have thought that a machine with massive cylinders hanging out the sides and a ready to ride weight nudging 230kg would turn out to be the World's most sought after adventure bike?

With over 100,000 R 1200 GS machines already sold around the world and a waiting list that sometimes approaches nine months, believe it.

Unless you have ridden BMW's R 1200 GS then it is a fairly safe bet that you view the machine as nothing more than an overweight behemoth incapable of traversing any terrain worse than smooth gravel tracks. Well, I am here to tell you that you are wrong. If you are up to the task then the R 1200 GS will get you just about anywhere.

Spending plenty of time up on the pegs of an R 1200 GS traversing mountain tracks across two States and one Territory over a few days is just one of the trek's I have enjoyed immensely astride a big GS. I say "up on the pegs" as I really got quite aggressive with the R 1200 GS and happily slid the machine around turns with plenty of opposite locked dialled on. I even caught myself laughing out loud in my helmet as I managed to do things on the big girl that really just shouldn't be possible on such a big machine.

Would a lightweight enduro bike have been faster on the dirt?

Yes, of course. The current 1200 GS machines are more than 30kg lighter than the earlier 1150 GS variants but at 230kg, lightweights they aren't.

And would the incredibly tight series of hairpin bends on the short tar sections have been more enjoyable on a sportsbike?

Again, yes, but a well ridden R 1200 GS would not be as far behind as you might think.

The real difference is that the R 1200 GS proves a willing mount for all those things and offers a level of versatility unparalleled by anything else available on two wheels.

Imagine heading on or off road with a pillion passenger carrying plenty of luggage for overnight camping stops comfortable in the knowledge that on the standard R 1200 GS you have a fuel range in excess of 300 kilometres no matter how hard you ride. And in the case of the R 1200 GS Adventure model make that a touring range between 500 and 600 kilometres thanks to its 33 litre tank. Imagine exploring national parks without worrying about refuelling stops. This is real freedom and the type of trek that the big GS is especially suited.

You can travel the major routes by tarmac in relative comfort if you choose, with the option of heading off-road to get to the more out of the way places to turn what would have been a mundane road trip into a real adventure.

For the 2008 model year the R 1200 GS scored the more powerful 77kW (105hp) donk that first saw duty in the R 1200 S sportsbike. 115Nm is the peak grunt figure reached at 5750rpm. I'm ready to state however that I think there is over 100Nm available pretty much everywhere in the rev range.

On the road the bottom end torque allows a rider to run a high gear even in really tight terrain and a smart rider will just ride the torque while forgetting about the gear lever and instead concentrate on being smooth and maintaining a perfect cornering line while massaging the throttle to achieve the best front/rear balance through a corner. This always proves fastest on the GS as overt aggression combined with long travel suspension and shaft drive is not a mix that bears well ripened fruit.

At the 110km/h speed limit is ticking over less than 4000rpm and returning fuel consumption averaging around six litres per 100 kilometres.

Overtaking is a twist of the wrist away and the 110km/h to 140km/h gap in top gear equates to a couple of seconds and another 1000rpm. The rev limiter cuts the fun at 8000rpm and thanks to the balancer shaft arrangement on the 1200 is much smoother than the 1100 and 1150 engines used in its distant predecessors.

The Adventure sports a shorter first gear to aid low speed dirt work which is sure to give the clutch an easier time when traversing really testing terrain.

Changes to the GS from 2008 onwards included a strengthened gearbox and shaft drive system, thicker and stronger handlebars and hand guards, improved seating and new optional extras that included an intelligent traction control system and push button electronic suspension adjustment added to the already available ABS system.

BMW have dubbed their optional traction control system 'ASC'. The system has three modes available that are switchable on the fly from a button on the left handlebar. The settings are normal, off-road and deactivated.

In normal mode the system uses wheel sensors to pick up any difference between front and rear wheel speeds and dramatically reduces engine power to save a potential rear wheel slide that otherwise might put you on your head. The system reacts quickly and is most suitable for general road riding.

It is particularly valuable in low traction situations such as wet and slippery roads. In normal mode the intervention is dramatic and far from pretty but it does have the ability to save your bacon. It's something that I would not consider turning off in real world use.

The off-road setting is much more subtle and allows for plenty of slip before putting a stop to your fun. If you are a ham-fisted throttle jockey, the system will intervene quite early as the difference between your front and rear wheel speeds will often be great and as widely varying as your misplaced throttle inputs. However, better riders that are capable of performing graceful sideways slides aided by momentum on the way into the turn that helps keep both wheels at similar speeds, while allowing the rear to start to break away prior to the apex to aid turn in, can have the big GS in wonderfully satisfying sideways drifts with the rear spinning nicely on the way out through the use of smooth applications of the throttle.

Using this method, the traction control system never activates but is still there to intervene if a huge difference in traction occurs that makes the wheels turn at a dramatically different rate. Even the most experienced riders can enjoy a very satisfying day sliding around in the dirt without feeling the system spoiling their fun. I spent some time riding with World Enduro gold medallist Geoff Ballard and even he marvelled at the traction control system. Geoff can ride an R 1200 GS as quick in the dirt as most people can manage on a hard core 450 enduro bike. If he can have fun with it on, so can you.

The system can also be deactivated at the press of a button for those that want to get really radical or just can't stand the thought of any electronic intervention. I spent most of my first day with the system off, as like most riders, I trust my self-preservation limits to my right hand rather than some boffin's interpretation of what an engine should do when I twist the throttle. But after a few hours I was converted. The off road setting is unobtrusive enough to allow experienced riders to have plenty of fun. It only really intervenes when a rider is riding poorly. I spent the rest of my time with GS in the off-road mode and never found it a hindrance. Of course the safety benefits for lesser experienced riders cannot be overstated.

If you are new to big off road bikes I thoroughly recommend ticking the ASC box on the options list. Then get yourself on one of BMW's Off Road Training courses and you will be ready for just about anything. ASC is only available in conjunction with the excellent ABS system that is also activated or deactivated at the press of a button. While the ASC is a quite reasonable $385 ask, it is when the mandatory ABS option that must be ticked with it that things get a little rough. The integral ABS II system commands a heady $1775 which makes the ABS/ASC combination a $2160 premium.

The other big ticket option for the R 1200 GS is off-road electronic suspension adjustment (ESA).

BMW has used ESA on a few select road models before but 2008 was the first time a dirt oriented system was introduced an option on the GS. And it is in GS form where it proves even more useful than on the road bikes.

Six damping settings are selectable on the fly from a button on the left handlebar. 'Normal' mode predictably treads the middle ground, 'Comfort' softens things up for the long highway haul or wet conditions, and 'Sport' mode poises the suspension ready for tarmac attack. In off-road mode there is a 'Soft' mode for when the terrain is very rough, 'Hard' for smooth surfaces and tarmac transit stages and 'Normal' which unsurprisingly offers a balance between the two. The difference between each mode is clearly felt. On the tarmac I favoured 'Normal' for most riding with a switch on the fly to 'Sport' when the corners arrived and I felt like getting aggressive. In the dirt I found 'Hard' to be just that, and preferred the 'Normal' mode with an occasional switch to 'Soft' when things really turned nasty or traction was very hard to find.

While the on the fly adjustable damping settings are certainly nice to have they are not the best feature of the system. It is the five stage electronically adjustable preload for both ends of the machine that prove the biggest asset to the system. Unlike the damping settings, preload changes must be made while the machine is stationary at idle. For dirt work two settings are available and are indicated on the display by mountain icons. For mostly smooth terrain where all of the available ground clearance is unlikely to be used two small mountains indicate the suitable preload setting. When you want more suspension travel made available through the reduction of the static sag, select the uneven terrain icon which is represented by two larger mountains of uneven size. Fairly self-explanatory really.

The on road preload modes are a huge asset to the rider that regularly carries varying amounts of luggage or a pillion. One single helmet icon indicates a preload level set up for an average sized rider, a helmet and luggage icon indicates the preload setting for a rider with luggage while two helmets wind up the preload to accommodate a pillion passenger and luggage. When reducing preload for example, you will feel the machine sink a little on its haunches through a couple of small steps as the weight of the machine gradually overcomes the inherent stiction in the shocks and sinks to its new level. The upping of the preload is not so easily felt at standstill but the change is clearly evident when you hit the road.

Is all this ESA trickery really needed? Not really.

Does it help to provide a more capable and more pleasing to live with machine? Yes, it does.

ESA costs from $900 depending on what other factory fit options you select when ordering.

ESA can prove quite an aid to those that find themselves a little short for the GS. The standard seat on the GS is adjustable through a 855mm to 875mm range, the optional high seat is 880mm to 900mm and the no cost optional low seat a fixed 820mm. ESA can help with the mundane task of getting on and off by using the push button adjustable preload to lower the machine a little further when at a standstill before raising ready for action when preparing to move off. An even lower fixed 790mm seat combines with a low suspension package but that option is not available with the ESA system. The Adventure seat is adjustable through a tall 890mm to 910mm.

Our test machine was shod with Continental Twinduro rubber which proved really quite outstanding. The dirt grip they offered was quite staggering considering the size of the tread blocks and once on the tar those blocks proved taut enough to get down to boot-scraping speeds with nary a hint of the tyres moving around in protest.

We ran the tyres at around 25psi on both dirt and tar and found them to be much better than we imagined in any terrain. A few more psi would have been beneficial on the road, but the main benefit obtained by upping the pressures would be to dramatically increase the life of the tyre. The tyres were far from new when I hopped aboard the GS but after my 1000km on the machine the rear in particular was severely cactus.

If you really want to keep an eye on your tyre pressures then tick the optional RDC box to select BMW's tyre pressure control system. When fitted the system displays the current tyre pressures, both front and rear, as a bar measurement. Thus our 25psi equated to 1.7 bar on the dash. For dedicated road work I would be tempted to up them to around 35psi (2.4 bar) to extend tyre life or perhaps even more if carrying a pillion and/or luggage. The RDC system costs $380 and for those that like to run their rubber on lower pressures for dirt work can have their dealer deactivate the warning light on the instrumentation. In a perfect world the rider would be able to set their own parameters for the tyre pressure control system via a button on the dash.

As you would expect the riding position is very comfortable and while the standard GS does feel smaller due to the slimmer tank its narrow footpegs can be a pain for those that stand up on the pegs all day. They are rubber topped but the rubbers are removable and you would certainly do this before heading off road. The GS Adventure comes with much wider pegs and a massive screen that really helps in the comfort stakes on the long haul.

The R 1200 GS comes with alloy rims, hand guards, on board computer, chrome header pipes, clear indicator lenses. The Adventure also scores heated grips, crash-bars, additional spotlights, pannier fastenings, wider pegs, adjustable gear and brake levers, a better screen, spoked rims and a seat better shaped for off-road work. The spoked rims are a $500 additional extra on the standard R 1200 GS while an integrated anti-theft alarm system adds another $505 to the total of either machine. Get some panniers to fit to those pannier fastenings and that will cost you around $1500 for the pair. Add a top-box and the luggage total approaches $2500. Grab a tank bag and the inner bags for the panniers to really round out the package and you won't see any change out of $3000.

Add those options to the $21,600 asking price for the R 1200 GS or the $26,100 sticker on the Adventure and things get downright scary. A fully kitted out Adventure with the entire luggage, the traction package, the ESA and the GPS comes in at around $34,000. And yes, for that sort of money you can get both a decent sportsbike and a good enduro bike but as I mentioned earlier, neither of those mounts will take you all the places far and wide in comfort the way the R 1200 GS can. And plenty of riders want neither a dedicated sportsbike, nor an aggressive lightweight enduro machine, and it is these riders that lust after the R 1200 GS. Personally, I would like all three with my GS in the Adventure guise with all the fruit...

For the 2010 model year the GS will score five more hp and Nm courtesy of the move to double overhead cams. I am yet to ride the 2010 model but have experienced the DOHC engine in the HP2 Sport and the extra urge above 6000rpm is certainly noticeable and the engine charges surprisingly hard all the way to the higher 8500rpm limiter. In other models this certainly adds an extra level of excitement when riding aggressively as the new heads really give the bike a significant extra kick in the upper reaches of the tachometer. Also new for 2010 is an electronically controlled bi-modal exhaust flap to accentuate the Boxer's enigmatically gruff note. The new more powerful 2010 R 1200 GS and R 1200 GS Adventure machines are expected to arrive in Australia early next year. If you can't wait for the new engine there are a few 2009 machines still on some dealer's floors that you might be able to negotiate a discount before the new model arrives.